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Haddock SHD, Choy CA. Life in the Midwater: The Ecology of Deep Pelagic Animals. Ann Rev Mar Sci 2024; 16:383-416. [PMID: 38231738 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-031623-095435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
The water column of the deep ocean is dark, cold, low in food, and under crushing pressures, yet it is full of diverse life. Due to its enormous volume, this mesopelagic zone is home to some of the most abundant animals on the planet. Rather than struggling to survive, they thrive-owing to a broad set of adaptations for feeding, behavior, and physiology. Our understanding of these adaptations is constrained by the tools available for exploring the deep sea, but this tool kit is expanding along with technological advances. Each time we apply a new method to the depths, we gain surprising insights about genetics, ecology, behavior, physiology, diversity, and the dynamics of change. These discoveries show structure within the seemingly uniform habitat, limits to the seemingly inexhaustible resources, and vulnerability in the seemingly impervious environment. To understand midwater ecology, we need to reimagine the rules that govern terrestrial ecosystems. By spending more time at depth-with whatever tools are available-we can fill the knowledge gaps and better link ecology to the environment throughout the water column.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven H D Haddock
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, USA;
| | - C Anela Choy
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA;
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Varrella S, Barone G, Corinaldesi C, Giorgetti A, Nomaki H, Nunoura T, Rastelli E, Tangherlini M, Danovaro R, Dell’Anno A. Fungal Abundance and Diversity in the Mariana Trench, the Deepest Ecosystem on Earth. J Fungi (Basel) 2024; 10:73. [PMID: 38248982 PMCID: PMC10820024 DOI: 10.3390/jof10010073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Hadal trenches host abundant and diversified benthic prokaryotic assemblages, but information on benthic fungi is still extremely limited. We investigated the fungal abundance and diversity in the Challenger Deep (at ca. 11,000 m depth) and the slope of the Mariana Trench in comparison with three sites of the adjacent abyssal plain. Our results indicate that trench sediments are a hotspot of fungal abundance in terms of the 18S rRNA gene copy number. The fungal diversity (as the number of amplicon sequence variants, ASVs) was relatively low at all sites (10-31 ASVs) but showed a high turnover diversity among stations due to the presence of exclusive fungal taxa belonging to Aspergillaceae, Trichosphaeriaceae, and Nectriaceae. Fungal abundance and diversity were closely linked to sediment organic matter content and composition (i.e., phytopigments and carbohydrates), suggesting a specialization of different fungal taxa for the exploitation of available resources. Overall, these findings provide new insights into the diversity of deep-sea fungi and the potential ecological role in trench sediments and pave the way for a better understanding of their relevance in one of the most extreme ecosystems on Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Varrella
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (G.B.); (A.G.); (R.D.)
- National Biodiversity Future Centre, 90133 Palermo, Italy;
| | - Giulio Barone
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (G.B.); (A.G.); (R.D.)
- Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology, National Research Council, Largo Fiera della Pesca 2, 60125 Ancona, Italy
| | - Cinzia Corinaldesi
- National Biodiversity Future Centre, 90133 Palermo, Italy;
- Department of Materials, Environmental Sciences and Urban Planning, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
| | - Alessio Giorgetti
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (G.B.); (A.G.); (R.D.)
| | - Hidetaka Nomaki
- X-Star, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan;
| | - Takuro Nunoura
- Research Center for Bioscience and Nanoscience (CeBN), JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
| | - Eugenio Rastelli
- Department of Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica “Anton Dohrn”, Fano Marine Centre, Viale Adriatico 1-N, 61032 Fano, Italy;
| | - Michael Tangherlini
- Department of Research Infrastructures for Marine Biological Resources, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Fano Marine Centre, Viale Adriatico 1-N, 61032 Fano, Italy;
| | - Roberto Danovaro
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (G.B.); (A.G.); (R.D.)
- National Biodiversity Future Centre, 90133 Palermo, Italy;
| | - Antonio Dell’Anno
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy; (G.B.); (A.G.); (R.D.)
- National Biodiversity Future Centre, 90133 Palermo, Italy;
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Díez-Vives C, Riesgo A. High compositional and functional similarity in the microbiome of deep-sea sponges. ISME J 2024; 18:wrad030. [PMID: 38365260 PMCID: PMC10837836 DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrad030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Sponges largely depend on their symbiotic microbes for their nutrition, health, and survival. This is especially true in high microbial abundance (HMA) sponges, where filtration is usually deprecated in favor of a larger association with prokaryotic symbionts. Sponge-microbiome association is substantially less understood for deep-sea sponges than for shallow water species. This is most unfortunate, since HMA sponges can form massive sponge grounds in the deep sea, where they dominate the ecosystems, driving their biogeochemical cycles. Here, we assess the microbial transcriptional profile of three different deep-sea HMA sponges in four locations of the Cantabrian Sea and compared them to shallow water HMA and LMA (low microbial abundance) sponge species. Our results reveal that the sponge microbiome has converged in a fundamental metabolic role for deep-sea sponges, independent of taxonomic relationships or geographic location, which is shared in broad terms with shallow HMA species. We also observed a large number of redundant microbial members performing the same functions, likely providing stability to the sponge inner ecosystem. A comparison between the community composition of our deep-sea sponges and another 39 species of HMA sponges from deep-sea and shallow habitats, belonging to the same taxonomic orders, suggested strong homogeneity in microbial composition (i.e. weak species-specificity) in deep sea species, which contrasts with that observed in shallow water counterparts. This convergence in microbiome composition and functionality underscores the adaptation to an extremely restrictive environment with the aim of exploiting the available resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Díez-Vives
- Department of Systems Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, c/ Darwin, 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
| | - Ana Riesgo
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
- Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), c/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
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Manea E, Dell’Anno A, Rastelli E, Tangherlini M, Nunoura T, Nomaki H, Danovaro R, Corinaldesi C. Viral Infections Boost Prokaryotic Biomass Production and Organic C Cycling in Hadal Trench Sediments. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:1952. [PMID: 31507564 PMCID: PMC6716271 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Hadal trenches are among the most remote and least explored ecosystems on Earth and can support high benthic microbial standing stocks and activities. However, information on the role of viruses in such ecosystems and their interactions with prokaryotic hosts is very limited. Here, we investigated activities of benthic viruses and prokaryotes and their interactions in three hadal trenches (Japan, Izu-Ogasawara and Mariana trenches) and in their nearby abyssal sites. Our findings reveal that these hadal trenches, compared with the surrounding abyssal sites, support higher abundances and biomasses of prokaryotes. In addition, the high prokaryotic biomasses of hadal trenches could favor high rates of viral infection and cell lysis, especially in the Japan Trench. Hadal viruses can release large amounts of highly labile and promptly available organic material by inducing cell lysis, which could contribute to sustain benthic prokaryotes and decrease their dependency on the enzymatic digestion of the more refractory fraction of sediment organic matter. Our results suggest that this process can contribute to explain the discrepancy between high prokaryote biomass and apparent low efficiency in the utilization of the sedimentary organic matter in the hadal ecosystems. Concluding, hadal trenches may be characterized by a highly dynamic viral component, which can boost prokaryotic biomass production, thereby profoundly influencing the functioning of these remote and extreme ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Manea
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Antonio Dell’Anno
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | | | | | - Takuro Nunoura
- Research Center for Bioscience and Nanoscience (CeBN), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Hidetaka Nomaki
- Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Roberto Danovaro
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
| | - Cinzia Corinaldesi
- Department of Sciences and Engineering of Materials, Environment and Urbanistics, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy
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Dell'Anno A, Corinaldesi C, Danovaro R. Virus decomposition provides an important contribution to benthic deep-sea ecosystem functioning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:E2014-9. [PMID: 25848024 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1422234112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Viruses are key biological agents of prokaryotic mortality in the world oceans, particularly in deep-sea ecosystems where nearly all of the prokaryotic C production is transformed into organic detritus. However, the extent to which the decomposition of viral particles (i.e., organic material of viral origin) influences the functioning of benthic deep-sea ecosystems remains completely unknown. Here, using various independent approaches, we show that in deep-sea sediments an important fraction of viruses, once they are released by cell lysis, undergo fast decomposition. Virus decomposition rates in deep-sea sediments are high even at abyssal depths and are controlled primarily by the extracellular enzymatic activities that hydrolyze the proteins of the viral capsids. We estimate that on a global scale the decomposition of benthic viruses releases ∼37-50 megatons of C per year and thus represents an important source of labile organic compounds in deep-sea ecosystems. Organic material released from decomposed viruses is equivalent to 3 ± 1%, 6 ± 2%, and 12 ± 3% of the input of photosynthetically produced C, N, and P supplied through particles sinking to bathyal/abyssal sediments. Our data indicate that the decomposition of viruses provides an important, previously ignored contribution to deep-sea ecosystem functioning and has an important role in nutrient cycling within the largest ecosystem of the biosphere.
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